Cochranton football survives to play again

Mar. 19—VERNON TOWNSHIP — Crawford Central School District on Monday held the rare school board meeting that could have benefitted from bleachers.

Even without them, however, close to 200 football fans crowded into district headquarters, filling the conference room, the adjacent hallway, and another meeting room where the action in the room across the hall was relayed via videoconference.

Among the crowd were youngsters in football jerseys, high school students in letterman jackets, enough cheerleaders in red uniform sweaters to form a towering pyramid, band members, music teachers, coaches, principals, and concerned parents and grandparents from virtually every corner of the district.

Most were drawn to the Monday meeting by the allure of Friday night lights: With the board set to discuss the future of the Cochranton Junior-Senior High football program, rumors spread that sport would be discontinued or that its team would be combined with the Meadville Area Senior High (MASH) team — at the cost of a two-year playoff ban because the deadline for such a move had already passed.

Over the course of approximately an hour, 16 members of the audience implored the board to maintain the status quo for both high schools. But in the end, the decision was not closely contested — no Hail Mary was needed, no immaculate reception was required.

No board members expressed support for either of the potentially devastating options that were among those outlined. Instead, the board will vote to approve a new Cochranton football coach when it meets next Monday. In a message after the meeting, board President Kevin Merritt said he had "no idea" who might be a candidate for the position.

As for the hullabaloo over the program's future, Vice President Jeff Rose questioned the need for holding the discussion at all, either Monday night or in the future.

"Over the last three weeks when this came up, I basically came to the conclusion that I wondered why we really need to talk about it," Rose said, dismissing the possibility of safety concerns arising from low participation at the rural school that had just 95 male students in grades nine through 11 last fall. "I don't think we need to revisit every sports team throughout the year to decide whether we're going to have them again next year. I think we have sports teams and until maybe a building administrator or a booster comes to us and says, 'We don't want to do this anymore,' then we do it."

Merritt, in contrast, suggested that combining the football programs into a single MASH team could be necessary when PIAA determines team classifications for the 2026 and 2027 seasons. Doing so in a timely fashion would enable the resulting team to avoid any ban on postseason participation, but could force the team up a level due to the larger player pool.

The Cochranton coaching vacancy was created in late January by the resignation of Mike Feleppa after three years leading the team.

Due to erroneous data submitted by the school to the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), the organization that governs the state's middle and high school athletics, a planned cooperative agreement with Commodore Perry High would have forced the team to move from Class 1A, where it competed against the schools with the smallest enrollments, to Class 2A.

After the PIAA denied Cochranton's requests to submit correct enrollment data, Feleppa supported moving forward with the cooperative arrangement despite the change in classification that would result. School officials opposed the move, Feleppa told The Meadville Tribune at the time.

"Unfortunately, the administration of Cochranton Junior-Senior High School did not agree with my philosophy of a co-op with Commodore Perry," he said. "I wish the football program and players nothing but success in the future."

The size of the Cochranton football roster came up repeatedly during the meeting, with board members citing sizes from the low- to mid-20s. Feleppa in January said the team had dressed as few as 14 players for some games.

Multiple residents told the board that their internet research revealed low participation has not definitively been associated with increased injury risk. Merritt agreed, citing his discussions with a sports medicine professional, while board member Jan Feleppa cited her own research supporting an ideal roster size of 40 to 60 players, with a significant increase of injury risk for players on teams with very small rosters.

Board member Tammy Silvis offered practical advice for the many Cochranton supporters who attended the meeting and addressed the board.

"I would suggest that your football team get busy and get a few more players so that you have a larger roster issue, so that you have less of a safety issue," Silvis said. "Get a few more boys."

Mike Crowley can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at mcrowley@meadvilletribune.com.